Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The Power of Symbols....

This appeared yesterday in Bombay times...

The minute I saw the first few images of the newly-minted Rupee symbol, I loved it! Strong, neat, international and assertive, it was just what India needed to give its currency the much required boost. And it’s stupid to ask whether the creation of a mere symbol will pump up our economy or image internationally. Symbols are not instant coffee – they take time to register and evolve. But a good symbol has the power to change perceptions and act as a catalyst. Tell me, which Indian won’t experience a sense of pride seeing the rupee symbol on the keyboard? Or walking into a money changer’s office while traveling abroad, and seeing it up there with the hand picked other currency symbols currently accepted and recognized the world over?Let us greet our new symbol with some respect rather than quibbling over the selection process. D Udaya Kumar who created this inspired and inspiring image holds both a Master’s degree and has a Doctorate in industrial design from the prestigious IIT ( Bombay). He is a fierce environmentalist who has planted five fruit bearing trees in the small patch of land outside his hostel and prefers to spend his limited leisure hours playing football with colleagues. Before submitting his design to the national panel for selection, he had field tested it by getting the common man to write it. This was to establish how easy it was to execute and recall. He submitted these video clips to the jury – and won! Why can’t those who lost the race accept his win with grace and give him credit for creating a superior design? Why start questioning the selection process which involved a committee of seven studying 3,331 submissions over 17 hours, at this stage? It’s a done deal, guys. Deal with it… We make poor losers in this country, unfortunately. We are always looking for excuses and alibis to justify failure. Whether it’s in cricket , Bollywood or politics, we cannot concede defeat with a shrug and a smile, or tell ourselves to try harder. I have my fingers crossed and am holding my breath well in advance of the Commonwealth Games. We should learn from South Africa and FIFA . Even South Africa’s harshest critics will agree that the rainbow nation pulled off a major, glitch free coup in the face of countless odds. But here in Delhi, we are readying ourselves for disasters big and small. We think by pre-empting any such unfortunate eventuality, we will be lessening our responsibility. Finger pointing being our favourite national sport, right now, there are a lot of really weary fingers! Everybody is at it – and it’s not just about the games alone. Of course, when asli biggies are involved ( Kamal Nath – Montek Singh Ahluwalia), the nation is treated to a cerebral show down. But even lesser beings provide cheap thrills to the aam janata with name calling replacing name dropping. As of now, I am waiting to hear the next salvo from Akshay Kumar who was most miffed about the fuss made over his R.K.Laxman hospital visit. Perhaps, it’s time for the Common Man to have the last laugh! *************Guys, I tried hard to upload fresh images from Sri Lanka, but there is something weird happening on the internet today. Perhaps servers have crashed after people read about Sachin Tendulkar's 'Bloody' book. In case you don't know what I am talking about, it's titled 'Tendulkar's Opus', and will be published next February. Priced at a 'modest' $75,000, this 852-page book weighing 37kg is unique in more ways than one - it claims it has the iconic cricketer's blood and saliva on the signature page. Are you going - "Ugggggh!" ?????Please do post candid comments to that googly....

Love the rupee symbol. Great post, as usual.And yuk! for the Tendulkar book. Give the man a break-appreciate his great cricket and his being a great family man. And leave it at that. Reaaly, the extent to which fans go...!

I wonder if the disgruntlement over the selected symbol is related to north south divide. In any competition, there can only be one winner. At the end of the day, the simplest one won over and its gonna be an iconic symbol for foreseeable future.

Regarding Sachin's opus. It was really agonizing that publishers are ready to go to any extend to sell their prestigious books. I wonder what sort of gimmicks other stars will try out to outwit sachin's book ! I think, SRK can think about his own Opus,soon.Afterall, he is the King of Bollywood. :D

the rupee has a symbol at last.... better late than never! the sachin's book will selleven though it is 'modestly' priced.of course,it may not top the chart of best-sellers' list unless it has steamy stories hitherto unknown to the public.yes!the marketing tactics adopted are distasteful.but the psychotic fans of the master blaster wont mind.

Hi there!! Whether rupee has a value or not I am happy that at least it has a symbol of its own now. Not to be surprised over the controversy of the winning bidder. In India we are not only poor loosers, we are poor takers of anything new and potentially good!! I am at loss to make anything out of Tendulkar's Opus. I love his cricket but love my hard earned money more. Blood and saliva!? Very ugly and unhygienic yaar...

If you like it and can afford it go ahead and buy it. Don't like it don't buy it. But please do not pass judgment on one of India's greatest sportsman by picking on trivial and inconsequential matters. You being part of the media should be educating others on respecting others' freedom of expression and being gracious about it, instead of the other way round. Somehow these things are considered(reported??) cool when it happens in the west. Angelina Jolie carrying a vial of her husbands blood apparently adds to her mystique and sex appeal if you media guys are to be believed. So please stop "commenting" and start "reporting".

How come you conveniently forgot to add one small thing ... "All proceeds from the sale of the books will go to Tendulkar's charitable foundation to help build a school in Mumbai" The entire value of the biography and the noble intent behind it is casually left out. Funny isn't it?

A friend of mine is considering suing the government because the new Rupee symbol is very similar to the logo of his production house.....The only reason he's still...'considering' is because he still hasn't figured out which one would take longer- Hiring and paying his lawyer, or the case.

Honest.

(Disclaimer : I am in now way responsible or liable for the outcome of his decision, and this comment shall and cannot be used in the court of law.)

So excited to finally have our own symbol. Like you said, not sure if it will help us financially in any way but atleast we will get recognized everyone with our 'symbol'.

As far as Sachin Tendulkar is concerned, his cynical fans out there will be so happy w/ his saliva or blood since he's like the 'Guru' for them. Don't forget that pretty much 95% of our population religiously follows 'Him' and Cirket... :)

God - I AM surprised...I would have thought that a book on Sachin Tendulkar could be written and designed in a way that it could fetch $75,000. Obviously a huge price, and I personally woulnd't enjoy ANY book that expensive even if I could afford it.But to hear about the cricketer's blood and saliva is stretching it a bit too far. I mean, do you really need his bllod and saliva to sell a book?

Now I am also wondering - in case I get to come near the book and am allowed to touch it, which pages to avoid....??

on the new rupee, i am not against it, but i am not going to gush over it. its easy to lose perspective and focus on topics like this.instead of concentrating on how much poverty we have, because its boring the media prefers to talk about stuff like this, more.

its like the data more Indians have mobiles than toilet. there might be pride in people's access to technology, but lets not lose focus on basic amenities.

we have to do more, to feel proud about ourselves.

the majority of Indians are going to be more concerned about the money they don't have, rather than the new symbol of money. but when has media been about majority..

ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF THE BOOK WILL GO TO A FOUNDATION TO HELP BUILD A SCHOOL FOR UNDERPRIVILEGED IN MUMBAI!!funny, isnt it? i mean.....sachin isnot a kabaddi or hockey player who has a limited source of incomebut the intense desire for charity, is he? anyways, all the best for his SAMAJ SEVA!!

Thank god. They have stopped without going for other secretions.Sachin is basically a simple person. Why did he agree to this weird thing from marketing people?This rupee symbol will not be liked by Tamilnadu people. Common Wealth Games will add to the wealth of contractors and middlemen exploiting the blood and sweat of the working classes.Twinkle must be having a hearty laugh. Wives are sometimes like that.

Talking about taking 'failure' sportingly, I remember a Tamil satirist saying, when the 'sportsmen' come back from 'The Olympics' empty handed, the 'n'th time, it is not a smile on their face but 'a loser's grin' that we see. How loooong are we going to call it 'a sportive smile ? Perhaps it is the politicians who are answerable to this.Rajiv Masand & his ilk think that they can get away with any nonsense. It was heartening to see the BigB coming to Akshay's rescue. Well timed & well done. Only he can spring such surprises. Now it is the Masand who look like a jackass. These people in the media sit on a throne like kings & think they are superior to the rest of the world if they hold a pen or a mike & keep their scores even on personal grudges in the name of reviews & reports. Masand calling Akshay Kumar, 'jackass'! 'twas very good to see a bollywood superstar to come down & visit Laxman on call like an ordinary person amidst his busy schedule. I think others can learn a lesson or two in humility from Akshay. His cheerful smile at Laxman would've been like a thousand pills for Laxman as his family says. Anyway 'twas unintended good publicity for Priyadarshan comedy, 'Khatta Meetha' by our very own jackass Masand. Thanq Masand !What next in marketing ?Semen in the book ?

Hi Mrs.De, enjoyed yr article on Re. symbol & Sachin's book.Our govt.seems to like day-dreaming hence it's going for Re.symbol as if we have become developed nation.First remove poverty,become superpower then go in for such fancies.As we have a phrase in Marathi: Adhi kalas mag paya.The above phenomenon looks like that.

Hi Mrs.De, enjoyed yr article on Re. symbol & Sachin's book.Our govt.seems to like day-dreaming hence it's going for Re.symbol as if we have become developed nation.First remove poverty,become superpower then go in for such fancies.As we have a phrase in Marathi: Adhi kalas mag paya.The above phenomenon looks like that.

Which means only 18 sec per design...Indian officials are super computer now days !!

As you hint about "loosers" i search over net and found down below shocking information,, which you had FORGET to mention in your blog...

1 Non-eligible candidate was shortlisted in top five finalists. As candidate had submitted four designs.2 One finalist was in contact with Finance Ministry and RBI prior to competition.3 Design concept or brief was not put in front of jury along with Indian Rupee symbol design.4 No marks or grades were allotted to selected (2644) candidates design entries, in the process of shortlisting top five finalist design entries.5 Jury had spends less than 20 seconds on each design entries to analyze it .6 Three jury member were absent in two days long meeting dated 29th Sept. and 30th Sept. 2009.7 One jury member from Ministry of Culture was absent on the day of final presentation.8 All seven jury member had never meet in this whole selection process in any given time.9 No records are available with Finance Ministry which could indicated, how many total design entries Finance Ministry had received ?10 Advertisement was only published in English language.While in India only 23% people able to understand ENGLISH.

Being as journalist you should have to investigate the case properly before coming in public.

I can understand you are making your living out of it but stop scripting Rann 2.

Again another comparsion between another country & India, guess which country comes out the loser. This woman has made a habit of constantly comparing India or its movies with foreign ones & of course, belittling India.The British may have left India but some of us like Shobha still behave like slaves to the west, wagging our tails to everything that is west. Hey, they are white, aren't they? First of all one should never compare. Criticize our game efforts or movies all u want but please stop comparing them. South Africa had its own problems, took its share of criticism also, something the likes of Shobha can't, won't see or hear.

Shobhaa de this is the first time I am reading your Blog , I liked a lot what you have written …I myself do not know how many times i have read the article …. but still my heart wants to read it again and again ….. it feels I have fallen in love with each and every word you have written …do keep writing so we get to read again and again…..Arif Akhtar.

How much is the value of the rupee going to climb up, as against other major currencies or how many percentage points is the GDP growth rate going to increase, merely on account of the symbol?

BTW, the currency of the fastest growing economy in the world doesn't have a symbol and is doing fine without it, known simply as CNY. Is that why India's economy is placed behind China's, because we go for style over substance?

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